Random Shoes (TV story)

Random Shoes
Main enemy:	Josh (joke) Gary (joke; reforms)
Key crew
Writer:	Jacquetta May
Director:	James Erskine
Producer:	Richard Stokes Sophie Fante Chris Chibnall (co-producer)
Release details
Release number:	9
Premiere broadcast:	10th December 2006

Synopsis

A hit-and-run victim, obsessed with aliens in life, realises only one person can solve the mystery of his death: Gwen Cooper.

Plot

to be added

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness — John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper — Eve Myles
• Owen Harper — Burn Gorman
• Toshiko Sato — Naoko Mori
• Ianto Jones — Gareth David-Lloyd
• Eugene Jones — Paul Chequer
• Young Eugene — Luke Bromley
• Bronwen Jones — Nicola Duffett
• Mr Garret — Roger Ashton-Griffiths
• Josh — Steven Meo
• Gary — Celyn Jones
• Linda — Robyn Isaac
• Shaun Jones — Gareth Potter
• Terry Jones — Joshua Hughes
• Waitress — Amy Starling
• Café owner — Leroy Liburd
• Pete — Ryan Chappell

Story Notes

• This episode was originally titled Invisible Eugene up until two weeks before it aired. It was then changed to its present title. It was still listed as "Invisible Eugene" in the Radio Times and other television listings.
• Toshiko only has two lines in this episode, in the first scene when she claims that Eugene "couldn't even die properly" and in the final scene when she says that they need to go.
• Screenshots of Eugene's website as posted on the Torchwood Institute website suggest it to be hosted on the fictional Cheapserve webhost. Cheapserve has been used before by the Doctor Who production team.
• For the first 8 minutes of the original broadcast of this episode, the BBC Three digital on-screen graphic identifier was absent, with the DOG of the CBBC Channel in its place. After this, the DOG disappeared.

Music

• The songs "Starman" by David Bowie and "Hope There’s Someone" by Antony and the Johnsons feature in this episode.
• Eugene's father sings "Danny Boy" at the funeral.

Outside of Universe References

• This story bears some structural similarities DW: Love & Monsters, in particular the heavy use of flashbacks and voice-overs by a guest character as narrative devices. In addition, both Eugene Jones and Elton Pope (from Love & Monsters) are lonely young men with fixations on the respective main characters of each series and both come to similar epiphanies about taking life as it comes rather than waiting for the unobtainable while confronting painful memories. Also, Love & Monsters featured an organization called "LINDA" and Random Shoes featured a woman named "Linda."
• In the flashback to Eugene's maths contest, Rushmore are described as having 'a mountainous forty-two [points]', a possible reference to Mt. Rushmore in the United States and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• The Internet auction website eBay is referenced, although the page displayed in this episode does not match eBay's current page layout.
• The DVD Owen is watching is the 1960s version of the BBC science fiction drama A for Andromeda.
• The name and logo of the "Happy Cook" resemble those of the Happy Eater chain of roadside restaurants.

Ratings

• BBC3 - 1.1 million viewers
• BBC2 - 2.3 million viewers

Filming Locations

• The National Museum of Wales in Cardiff was used in place of Aberystwyth University. Time and financial limitations meant the journey to Aberystwyth would have been impractical, especially considering the short amount of time it appears onscreen.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• In the previous episode, They Keep Killing Suzie, Suzie says that after you die it's just dark. Unless it was the eyes keeping him from seeing it, why did Eugene remain on Earth, and not experience the blackness?

Jack states that the purpose of the sixth eye was to look back and see where you've been. Having swallowed the eye, Eugene himself states that the events after his death have allowed him to see his life for what it really was.

• Despite his arm passing straight through Tosh when trying to get her attention, Eugene has no trouble getting in and out cars. Maybe he can't interact with sentient objects, unlike cars.
• It is stated that Eugene's father works nights at a garage, but Gwen calls the garage in the daytime and is able to speak to him.

As Gwen phones him on the way back from Aberystwyth, it is likely the phone call was made in the early morning, when he could have been at the end of his night shift.

• It is established that Eugene's father left in 1992, and Eugene narrates at his funeral that his father is "14 years too late", seemingly placing the story in 2006. However, Gwen joined Torchwood some time after the Battle of Canary Wharf, which took place sometime in 2007.

The fact that no specific dates are mentioned, plus the possibility of Eugene merely rounding the figure to the nearest year could account for the differences.

• The flyer states that the talk takes place at Aberystwyth University, but when the episode was made in 2006 it was officially known as the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The name did change to Aberystwyth University in 2007 however, when the events of this episode are set. The flyer also states that it takes place at the 'Science and Natural History Museum' and is hosted by 'N. Wales Astronomy Society', neither of which exist.
• In the Happy Cook, Gary says that they failed to catch up with Eugene because Josh was wearing new shoes. However the shoes in the picture on the phone do not look new.

Josh may have bought the shoes second hand, and referred to them being new to him.

Continuity

• During the scene in the conference room, Jack is handling an object that resembles the bolt gun from DW: The Satan Pit.
• The Tenth Doctor's severed hand is seen once more in the Torchwood Hub.

External Links

• Random Shoes episode guide entry on the BBC website
• Doctor Who: Torchwood Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - Random Shoes
• A Brief History of Time (Travel): Random Shoes